O Nature! all-sufficient! over all! br Enrich me with the knowledge of Thy works! br Snatch me to heaven; Thy rolling wonders there, br World beyond world, in infinite extent, br Profusely scatter'd o'er the void immense, br Shew me; their motions, periods, and their laws, br Give me to scan; through the disclosing deep br Light my blind way; the mineral strata there; br Thrust, blooming, thence the vegetable world; br O'er that the rising system more complex, br Of animals; and higher still, the mind, br The varied scene of quick-compounded thought, br And where the mixing passions endless shift; br These ever open to my ravish'd eye; br A search, the flight of time can ne'er exhaust! br But if to that unequal; if the blood, br In sluggish streams about my heart, forbid br That best ambition; under closing shades, br Inglorious, lay me by the lowly brook, br And whisper to my dreams.